Packing question.

[Zipthehuh]

I am new to the forums, so if this is the wrong place, I apologize in advance.
My Family and I recently went tent camping for the 1st time. We had an amazing time, but I have a few questions.
The big one is how do you fit everything in your vehicle! I have a family of 4 and a trailblazer extended. We barely got everything in the car, and there was a lot of stuff we did not need to bring. We met my wife’s family at the camp site, so we did not have to bring anything to cook on, or cook with. Nor did we have to bring eating utensils. It’s a good thing because I don’t think we would have had enough room for everything else in there.
So I am looking for ways to pack in a more compact fashion. I would prefer to keep as much in the cargo area as possible, and don’t want to use roof top storage. I have a cargo rack that goes into the trailer hitch, which I might use for coolers in the future.
I was thinking about those space bags that you roll the air out of them, but I am not sure how well they work.
So any suggestions on compact tight packing would be great.

[immortal_ben]

Re: Packing question.

The first thing I would look at is do you really need everything you packed for the first campout? Take a good, hard look from an objective point of view. You may find that you simply took too much stuff.

After thst, see if you have accidentally packed in redundancies. Maybe you brought 3 of same or extremely similar items when one would do the trick.

Next, did you pack all of the kids things in separate bags/containers? Maybe you can consolidate into fewer bags/containers.

Then experiment with the actual packing of the items into the bags/containers. Use all available space in each one. Try tightly rolling clothes instead of folding them. Then unpack it and try it again. You will find that a bit of experimentation often leads to better results.

Once all that is done, pack it all back up in the vehicle, take it out, and repack it again. You will find the best way to do it before long.

Hope this helps, and just remember to have fun camping!

[Stobber]

Re: Packing question.

The best way to pack better is to keep doing it. Every time we camp we end up packing better and better. Eventually you will know what to take, and what to leave behind. Space bags work really well, we use it for all of our bedding. We use the cube, and I have a battery operated makita vacuum that works great. Otherwise, like you said, rolling the air out makes a huge difference. Also, like said above, always pack every bag/box as full as you can.

Start packing with the essentials and when your filling up, start weeding out the things you can live without. When we first started camping we would pack everything possible, and we ended up not using much of it. Now we know what to not even worry about.

[Johnny Test]

Re: Packing question.

The great thing about a trailer is you can leave it packed.

[surmisez]

Re: Packing question.

We invested in a travel trailer earlier this year. We love it!

We keep it packed and ready in the garage. It is sooo much easier to pack and unload -- we used to have to take two cars for our week long camping trips. Now we take one car and pull the trailer.

If you have the room, I'd suggest you check out Craig's List or the classifieds for a cheap (we paid $150) travel trailer. It will make your life so much easier. :D

[alansteve777]

Re: Packing question.

am also looking for great packing tips for our vacation.. these thread helpful to me a lot..

[Hikenhunter]

Re: Packing question.

Wer bought an old popup camper for 100 bucks. Gutted the camper and put all our gear in it. We are now always packed and ready to go except for clothing and food.Roof keeps everything dry and there is no need for a second vehicle anymore.

[Gus@campingwithgus.com]

Re: Packing question.

All good tips - but the truest were - just keep packing - you'll find a system that fits your family, and look for redundancies and stuff you don't need.

However - I would suggest that if your kids are young -STAY with separate bags for each one - the peace-in-camp you get from this is worth having to find the space to pack it that way.

[lizrfoust]

Re: Packing question.

I agree. Try and try until you get it right for you. I eventually found that the thing that works best for me is to create a checklist of just everything I need and then do my packing. That way, I'm not tempted to bring stuff that I really don't need.